The "Case Study" House program, spearheaded by
Arts & Architecture editor
John Entenza, was announced in the January 1945 issue of the magazine. The magazine initially commissioned eight nationally known architects to create contemporary single-family homes within a specified budget, with the magazine itself serving as the "client" for each project. The program was envisioned as a creative response to the impending building boom expected to follow the
housing shortages of the
Great Depression and
World War II. The initial program announcement stated that "each house must be capable of duplication and in no sense be an individual performance" and that "the overall program will be general enough to be of practical assistance to the average American in search of a home in which he can afford to live." publishing the prototypes alongside the architects' comments. Construction on Case Study House #11 began on January 9, 1946, prompting the design for the home to precede the publication of Case Study House #10. The program announcement called for each house to be open to the public for six to eight weeks upon the conclusion of construction. Houses were to be furnished "under a working arrangement between the architect, the designer, and the furniture manufacturer". Several houses were not constructed for unspecified reasons beyond the control of the magazine and architects. The majority of the constructed houses were built in
Los Angeles County. Additional case study houses were built in
San Rafael, California;
San Diego, California; and
Phoenix, Arizona. Of the unbuilt houses, #19 was to have been built in
Atherton, California, while #27 was to have been built in
Smoke Rise, New Jersey. The
Eames House was added as a stand-alone site to the National Register in 2006. In 2013, a group of 10 case study houses, all located in Southern California, were added to the
National Register of Historic Places, while House #23A was determined eligible for the registry, but not officially listed due to an objection by the owner.
Shulman Photographs Many of the houses appeared in the magazine in iconic black-and-white photographs by architectural photographer
Julius Shulman. Shulman's May 1960 photo of the Stahl House is widely regarded as one of the most famous architectural photos of Los Angeles, and is one of Shulman's most reproduced photos. In 1989 Shulman's photographs of the Case Study Houses were exhibited at the
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art in an exhibit titled "Blueprints for Modern Living". The exhibition had a major role in reintroducing and redefining the program to a more modern audience. Some photographs of the constructed case study houses and models are included in
Getty Research Institute's Julius Shulman Photography Archive. == Stylistic Commonalities ==